


Mirror Image

by Happy_Mango



Series: Mango's Banned Together Bingo 2020 Fills [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alcoholic Bruce Wayne, Angst, Banned Together Bingo, Canonical Character Death, Confessions, Drinking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Swearing, he's trying to recover though, i just think that parents of heroes with similar situations should get to talk, maybe start a group chat together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:07:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26587120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy_Mango/pseuds/Happy_Mango
Summary: Bruce Wayne & Sally Jackson talk.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Jason Todd
Series: Mango's Banned Together Bingo 2020 Fills [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760863
Comments: 3
Kudos: 66
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Mirror Image

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [An Aquarium of Nameless Things](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18308171) by [jerseydevious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jerseydevious/pseuds/jerseydevious). 



> Jersey, ma'am, I really hope you like this
> 
> Banned Together Bingo Square: Swearing
> 
> unbetaed & unedited as per usual

“I nearly attended my son’s funeral.” Sally began amicably. The bottle of alcohol sat untouched in between them. 

_My first husband drank too much._ Sally had explained. 

I _used to drink too much._ He’d admitted. 

“It was a Thursday.” Sally murmured after it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything. “I quite dislike Thursdays now.” A quiet laugh for a morbid joke. But what else could they do; it was joke, they were meant to be laughed at. 

“I attended my son’s funeral.” Bruce said stiffly. He wasn’t sure why they were talking. He didn’t even know how this topic had come about, but here they were. “It was a Sunday.” 

The bottle continued to sit untouched between them. The glass glinted like the barrel of a gun at 11:59 am. 

Sally tipped her head up to make eye contact with him for the first time. Her brown eyes cut deep into Bruce. “Mt. St. Helens blew up. He was inside of it.” 

Bruce could see it clearly, lava everywhere, hardening into rock, the heat would have been unbearable, and _fire._

 _Fire licking its way far too close to_ _Rob_ _-_ _Ja_ _\- his son’s body. Ash floating through the air like snowflakes that Jason used to enjoy catching on his tongue. His throat was coated with them by then time he was done screaming._

Bruce lunged for the bottle. 

His hands shook as he uncorked it and poured a glass for himself. 

Sally watched him wordlessly as he drank 2, 3, almost 4 shots. 

Bruce coughed twice as he choked down the taste of vodka on his tongue. “ _Fuck.”_ He swore rather emphatically, “ _Fuck._ I didn’t -” He broke off taking a deep breath, _in through your nose, out through your mouth. C’mon, Jaylad, count with me._ His own words, advice to live by. 

“How did he make it out alive?” He settled on. It wasn’t what he wanted to say, but it was all he could without crumbling into pieces. 

“I don’t know.” That one admission was almost too much to bear, and yet not enough. It was never enough. _“_ How did your son make it out?” 

“I don’t know either.” The space they’d created between them was tense. The air quivered with anticipation of _something._ One word, one phrase, one _confession_ to knock it all out of place. 

Neither Sally nor Bruce made a move. 

Sally reached for the bottle. She corked it carefully, a slight tremble in her hands as she pushed it away from her body. Bruce hadn’t even realized he’d poured himself a sixth shot. “It doesn’t do good to dwell on things that can’t be changed.” He found himself saying. 

“No,” Her voice was soft, but firm, “But what else can I do.” 

“He’s just so angry now. There’s so much pain in him, and I don’t-” He broke off sharply. 

“As if he wants to set fire to the world.” She agreed. “Because he can’t control a smaller flame.” 

“And his eyes,” He murmured, opening up slowly. “They’re so green.” 

“And broken. I can’t stand the thought of my son-” Her voice cracked and Bruce glanced sharply up at her. There were silent tears running down her face. The first evidence of solid emotion since they’d begun this experiment of theirs. 

Sally looked at him; her brown eyes once again slicing through his ribcage to poke at his soul. 

“Their lives may be mirrors of each other, but so are ours, Mr. Wayne.” 

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally supposed to be a less than 300 word drabble, but then I decided to fill it for BTB and i had to flesh it out and double it in size
> 
> so, long story short basically I read Aquarium of Nameless Things today and as my brain tends to do it started running with daydreams and at some point i ran so far that i managed to end up in a universe with a pjo/dc crossover. and then i wrote this 20 minutes after school finished and here we are
> 
> this is like my 2nd pjo/dc fic taking place in an odd liminal space, and i'm not sure if it's a coincidence or a pattern yet
> 
> come chat with me on: [Tumblr](https://miniaturemangos.tumblr.com/) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/happymango03/)


End file.
